Ladd Photos

After a nice drive through the redwoods in Northern California, we paid the Golden Gate Bridge a visit. Then we headed into downtown San Francisco to explore on foot. We had a nice dinner in Chinatown and dessert at Ghirardelli.

After spending the night in the “Garlic Capital of the World” we had to try the local garlic ice cream. It wasn’t horrible.

Then we continued south to the central coast of California, stopping for a while at Moonstone Beach. We had dinner in Morro Bay before finishing the long drive to San Diego.

The total road trip was 3206 miles, which took 60 hours and 49 minutes to drive.

We visited the nice visitor center at the park, learning about the local plants, animals, and native people.

Connor got his first job, working as an umpire for 4S Little League. Don’t argue his calls because he is looking for an excuse to throw someone out of the game.

The boys opened their baskets and then made questionable choices in headwear. Later on in the day, we headed down south to their Tia’s house so they could hunt for eggs with their cousins.

We had a wonderful tour of the gardens at the Getty Center, learning about the artist’s vision when he created the beautiful landscapes. Then we went into the museum buildings to view the non-living artwork.

I’m an assistant coach for Connor’s Little League team, but I took the day off from my duties to snap some pictures. It has been a great season so far. My only complaint is that we are the Padres and not the Dodgers.

I can hardly believe that my little Dokie is now a teenager! He was busy all day with school and baseball practice, but in the evening he had fun opening his presents and eating a giant cookie for dessert.

We spent the night on the Queen Mary, which is docked permanently in Long Beach. It was fun to explore the ship and learn its history. The boys were on the hunt for ghosts, and swore they felt some.

After spending the morning on the Queen Mary, visiting the bridge and learning about her “Gray Ghost” years during WWII, we headed to the USS Iowa.

Our time aboard the battleship started with the Presidential Tour, where we learned the history of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s time on the ship, as well as getting to see some areas not accessible on the self tour. Then we explored all over the ship, learning about its weapons systems and how the sailors lived aboard.

It was a beautiful day out to go visit the animals. We saw the new baby François’ langur, which start off bright orange before turning black as they grow up.

We spent Memorial Day having a peaceful walk around the Japanese Friendship Garden. Connor and I brought our cameras to practice taking some shots.

My sister-in-law celebrated turning 40 at La Bella’s Pizza with lots of friends and family.

After our flight and riding the “L” to our downtown hotel, we started off our trip right with some delicious deep dish pizza.

The Shedd Aquarium contains every type of underwater creature imaginable. Besides looking at tank after tank of fish, the boys got to touch starfish, sturgeons, and stingrays. We also saw an amazing dolphin show.

For dinner, we enjoyed the famous Chicago dog, which I think is the best hot dog on the planet.